The Cold
by ChicaX4XChaChi
Summary: I was going to tell you everything later.  This was just going to be our little sweet, funny, romantic story we would laugh about later.  We... heh. 'Us' you... and me.
1. Paranoia

**(A/N) Okay this is the first chappy. Remember to review! Taylor is bold. Gabriella is regular**.

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_New Message_

_Hey, Tay. How u gettin home?_

'God, Gabs has been texting me this entire class.'

_**Bus... I guess... all the flights are either canceled cuz of the weather or full. My 'rents arent gonna come get me... its so far.**_

_Message Sent_

_New Message_

_Delaware? Right? _

_**Yeah, why?**_

_Message Sent_

_New Message_

_You're in luck, then check out the ride board. _

_**K, will do after class. Thanks.**_

_Message Sent_

_New Message _

_No prob, glad to help! C ya._

Taylor Mckessie closed her phone and looked up to catch the last bit of class.

"Okay, class dismissed. Until we pick up after break, on the astronomical structures...above. OOOH" Everyone laughed... more at him than with him at his joke.

Sighing, the girl got up. Although it was basically freezing outside, Taylor wore a mohogany skirt with matching boots. A dark green denim jacket over a long sleeve mohogany blouse -slightly a little lighter than the boots and skirt. A dark brown bag slung around one shoulder.

Walking, her shoulder length hair would bounce up and down softly, which she thought hi-lighted her curls. And to top it off, the most-adored head band in Taylor's possessions consisting of white green and mohogany, of course, colors.

Smiling at a fellow dormmate, she walked outside across the few parking lots to the ride board. Papers and pictures of assorted people, cars, numbers and destinations came into view.

And she saw it. White paper with 'Delaware Ride, Call 555-2248'.

Taking the number down on a piece of paper, she smiled.

"Good... no dirty Gray Hound with a bunch of old people." She looked around before heading in the direction of her dorm.

Halfway to her dorm, she had a pang of pain in her stomach possibly signaling that she needed to fill it...

And on top of the thought of being hungry, she wouldn't mind a few cups of cappucino.

"Ugh thank you lord for Fridays and winter break."

Just then, she felt a vibration in her pocket.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, I was gonna go with Benny to the movies, wanna come?"_

"Uhh... no I'm fine thanks. I was actually gonna walk over to Uno's for some pizza or spaghetti or something. But I really want a cappuccino."

"Mmkay... wait hold on." Faint mumbling in the background could be heard and then Gabriella came back to the phone. "Hey wait, we'll meet you there kay?"

"Kay, fine c ya there then."

'Well... at least I wont be alone.'

While walking Taylor could feel the awkward silence creeping up on her. She could almost swear that someone was behind her watching or walking.

'No... its just paranoia. Its gotta be.' Her heart began beating faster and faster until she could feel its pulsing through her neck and temples.

She wouldn't dare turn around and look, afraid that she would make them aware that she knew of their presence. If there was a 'their presence'.

Uno's was just ahead and it was a public place. No one could dare hurt her there.

She stopped right in front of the door to Uno's and pretended to look for something in her bag and listened for anything to alert her of any type of presence.

And, yes, there was a faint crunch of snow heard and then silence. It sounded far. But just because it sounded far didn't mean that she would stop being cautious.

Reluctant to hear the oh-so-famous jazz music playing inside the pizza place, and the clanging of plates, she went and found a seat in the corner of the room.

Watching out the window to find the person following her, she found no one.

After about 10 minutes of waiting and sipping cappuccinos, a few guys came into the fast-food joint. Football players, she assumed. A minute later, kind of weak and disheveled guy, alone, came in.

Actually, he looked like he had some muscle, just not as much as the other boys before him.

He looked at her and then went to a seat across the room. And finally, in came Gabby and Benny.

"Hey took yall long enough."

"Yeah it was her fault she had to change because she spilled a pop on her shirt. Then she made me choose another "cute" shirt for her to put on." Benny stated. He looked over to a sandy-blonde hair, blue-eyed boy staring in the direction of Taylor.

And when the blue eyes met with Benny's brown eyes, they jolted toward the window.

Gabriella giggled and punched him playfully on the shoulder.

"I did not take that long and you _wanted _to come and choose my shirt... remember?" She finished with a kiss and a vally girl giggle again.

"Oh lord. Not now please I want to eat. No disgusting pucker-facing please."

"Come on you know you need a boyfriend, dude. College is nothing without one..." She said once again with a kiss with Benny.

"Agh.. stop."

"Look, I can find you one sitting in this restaurant." She squinted and looked around for any guy and found one sitting by his lonesome. She nodded in approval and turned toward Taylor again. "There you go. Him."

She pointed to the same guy Taylor thought had the disheveled brown/blonde hair. "He's...okay. But honestly I am fine!"

Benny looked at the guy and saw him looking back. The guy got up and walked to the door. Not before smiling in Taylor's direction did he go outside.

"Taylor?"

"Yeah?" She sipped on her cup.

"That guy you and Gabby were just talking about. He was looking at you... I think this entire time.

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**(A/N) This is the first chappy of my second story. And trust me even though this chapter is really bad, the storyline gets much more intense. Hopefully . REVIEW!**


	2. Never Ending Deep

**(A/N) Well chapter two. I'm so tired.  
**

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"So, you are the Delaware driver?" Taylor looked at the book at hand rather than the driver in the driver seat. 

She really didnt care who was the driver. Just getting home was her goal.

"Uhh... yea.. yea. Um, you can put ur bag in the back. The trunk, I.. I.. mean."

Taylor noticed that he seemed a little nervous. 'What is his problem?'

Closing the book and holding it at her side, she walked around to the trunk of the car -a brown, rusted, cadillac.

Analyzing every inch of it.

Honestly it looks like it could use a fix... on everything.

Taylor unlatched the trunk only to find it full with what seemed like every item in an average person's apartment, childhood bedroom, and their cousin's house.

"Um, so where do I put it again? Its kind of full back here. Agitation and tiredness from no sleep made her kind of sarcastic. And she noticed it herself. But hey, she was too agitated and tired to change it.

He got out of the car, with a little struggle getting the door open, and tried to move stuff around in the trunk.

Without even taking a glance at him still, she took a bag out and set it on the ground to help him with it clearing it out.

"There just set it in. And close the trunk softly, otherwise... something else might break. Its cold so I'm going back in the car."

He smiled at her, but yet she still didnt want to see his face. And did not look up. Only down.

She complied with closing the trunk softly and exchanged the book for her phone in her purse. Taking one last look at the back of the car, she noticed no license plate.

She went around to the passenger side and tugged at the handle latch with no luck in opening the door and rolled her eyes.

'Great the door wont open and the car is full of junk. This car is crap and he doesnt even have a license plate. Could my day get any worse.'

"Oh, oh" He broke in, in the middle of her thought, "Here lemme get that for you. The door... along with all the others are kind of stubborn. Sorry."

The door finally opened.

"Its fine." She got in the car and finally looked at him.

Those eyes... blue. Piercing blue. Remarkable. Like... nothing she had ever seen. It almost took her breath away. And the brown hair to hi-light it... the white snow behind him even brings them out more...

"Hello?" He waved a hand in front of her face.

Unknowingly, she let out a breath that she was holding in but had yet to look away from his eyes.

"I'm, uh sorry. I didnt mean to stare like that."

"Its fine" He smirked.

"Well... we're off then good bye school, Home-Sweet-Delaware we come right?"

"Sure," she said turned toward the passenger window. Mouth still wide open.

Little did they know that the bag Taylor had set down... was still out there. And they drove off... leaving it.

XOXOXO 

"So, when are you gettin home to Florida? Must be awesome because of the heat right?"

He was annoyed. He wanted her to talk to _him _not whoever she was talking to. He looked over a couple of times with a glare sayin that she needed to get off the phone.

She had been on for over an hour. And it had annoyed him.

And she had noticed his angry nosiness.

"Gabby, uhm hold on." She looked at him. "Whats wrong?"

"Yeah, you are supposed to be talking with me. I mean we split the job. 50/50 I drive, you make conversation with me. Is that so hard?!"

She was a bit surprised at his insolence.

"Gabby I uh have to go, I need to help the driver with the map reading k? Call me when you get home, and let me talk to Auntie Lareina. Okay! See ya!"

She hung up the phone and turned to him. "Okay you've succeeded in getting me off the phone. And since you want to conversate, then let's."

Silence fell and he glanced at her a couple of times while she just looked out the window.

"Well, you have officially succeeded in making me bored also." She mumbled.

"Oh I am so sorry for offering you a drive when all you can do is be a jerk."

She felt a little guilty, afterall, he was generous enough to drive and deal with her with her stubborn annoyance.

"Your right I'm...I'm sorry. I was being a jerk and..." She faded away not knowing what she could say next. "Uhm... Okay. Where did you go to school at in Delaware?"

"St. Ficus." A plain answer.

"Mhm... and where is that at? The last time I-"

"Oh so suddenly you're familiar with every school in Delaware?" Still a little angry.

"Yeah pretty much" She defended.

"Mhm.." He turned his head to the other window.

"Ugh, first of all.. what's your name?"

"How do you not know me? We have a class together..."

Taylor gave him a I-dont-know-what-you're-talking-about-so-keep-explaining-please look.

He sighed and continued. "Hence the something about we are going study when we came back was the astronomical structures... above. OOOH!"

"Oh..." The heat rushed to her cheeks almost immediately after that. She truly felt bad.

"Yea..."

"And its Troy, by the way."

"Ah... Troy...?"

"Bolton. Troy Bolton."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Uh... no" Ugh the second time I've stared. Lord, somethings wrong.

She slapped her hand across her face and dragged it down to relieve her mind of the sickening, almost wanting feeling she had.

She just got to know this guy. BARELY and yet... she thought... she was falling for him. She needed to break away... if only for a minute, she still needed to do it.

"Uhm, can you take me to.. a gas station? I... have to go."

"Sure...But I dont know when the next one will come."

She nodded and thought about getting home. Thats all she wanted to do. Not fall in love. Especially not with this weirdo.

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**(A/N) So... please review. And... ima get some sleep. ZzZzZz  
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	3. Confusion

**(A/N) OKAY! Well! here is chapter three... here goes hope u likey! Sorry if its suckish. I'm losing my inspiration for this story...**

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The wait was killing her. She couldn't stop finding herself looking out the corner of her eye toward him. Every few seconds.

They have been on the road for over 2 hours since she asked for the gas station.

'COME ON YOU STUPID GAS STATION! HURRY UP!'

The suspense was making her blood boil.

Just to spend the time she decided to paint her nails.

She grabbed her purse off the floor and immediately started rummaging through it. It seemed like an eternity looking through her purse. She had to go through everything to find her nail polish.

Her phone, eye liner, wallet, mp3, lipstick, brush, comb, eye lash curler, everything.

Troy looked over at her and saw her pulling just about everything out of her purse.

"What are you doing?"

"Nail polish. I need it."

"Okay?"

Taylor was still pulling stuff out of her purse when she finally found the black nail polish.

She smiled at accomplishment of finally finding her nail polish. And then looked down to her lap.

"UGH!" Taylor was exasperated.

Once again Troy looked over and looked at her with a you're-crazy look.

"Dude, what now?"

Everything she had pulled out was on her lap and she did _not_ want to put it back in her purse.

Taylor let out a loud sigh and said nothing.

She started putting everything back in her purse and saw a car getting too close to their car.

It was behind the car but it was coming up at a rapid speed.

She looked over to him for any signs of him noticing this.

Nothing.

She looked back into the mirror to the car.

It was gone.

Taylor turned around in her seat in every direction. But still she couldn't find it.

Troy looked at her in puzzlement. "What? Whats wrong with you?"

"Did you just see that car?"

"No? Wh-"

The car was on the driver side and it jerked over.

"Crap!"

"It's trying to hit us speed up! Do something!" Taylor's heart almost jumped out of her chest. It was beating so fast. Her hands were shaking and she couldn't control the pain in the pit of her stomach.

Troy looked over to her. Her eyes were rolled back in her head and she looked like she was having a seizure.

"Taylor?" He looked back at the road and back at her. Her back was slightly off of the back of the seat and in the air.

"Taylor?!" She she was shaking tremendously.

"TAYLOR!"

"Troy, do something please!" Her life was flashing before her eyes.

Troy immediately sped the car up.

Taylor looked around and saw that the car was gone. It wasn't behind them, to her side, or his side.

She calmed down a little and looked in front of her.

Troy was still speeding. Very fast.

Troy was still watching her. Screaming her name, trying to get through to Taylor but nothing worked.

He even tried shaking her. But he couldn't do that for long. He was still driving.

"Troy you can slow down now. And what the heck was that all about?"

She once again started to put the items back into her purse. Then she realized that he still was going very fast.

"Troy?" She looked up at him and saw he was focused on the road before him. "Troy?" He didn't even respond, no words, no movement, not even a twitch. His eyes stayed focused.

"Troy!"

She looked at the road in front of her. And immediately her eyes widened.

"Taylor! Look at me!!! Can you hear me!?!" He kept yelling but she never stopped her seizure-like trance. He hadn't seen anything like this. Only in movies. But this was definitely NOT a movie.

The car. It was in front of them. And Troy wouldn't slow down. Troy was driving so fast and the car in front of them was stopped. They were coming up on it, very rapidly.

So fast that all she could do was raise her hand and point at the car. No noise would escape her mouth, because of the rushed fear and panic.

And before she knew it, a loud noise, a quick flash, a yelp and... everything went black.

Troy looked over to Taylor for any sign of difference. Even though her eyes were still rolled in the back of her head, her back was raised from the seat, chest in the air, and shaking; she began to raise hear arm. Slowly.

Her head began rolling, making him afraid. Then she raised her index as if pointing in front of her.

Then she just dropped. Her body stopped all movement. And she fell back into her seat. Her eyes were open.

Then her head fell over to her shoulder. Eyes closed.

Troy didn't know what to do. The panic.

"What the hell just happened?"

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**(A/N) Well there it is. Hope it caught ur interest. REVIEW! And dont worry if its confusing. This chapter should be explained soon! Enjoy. **


	4. Where are you going?

**(A/N) So, was that last chapter... oh... shall i say, confusing? Yes no? okay... so well here goes chapter 4**

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Taylor awoke to soft music -what sounded like elevator music.

Her vision wasn't all that great. Blurry. Everything seemed to be in a spin.

She couldn't even keep her eyes ajar for 2 seconds.

They would open and close, showing a very blurry white scenery with a bunch of 3 feet blurs of other colors in which she couldn't make out.

And strong arms under her. She could feel them carrying her.

Once her eyes did open, she let out a soft moan and her hand daintily and slowly made its way to her forehead.

Troy looked down at her and realized that she was awake. "Hey... how are you?"

Taylor closed her eyes and she faintly said, "Not... okay."

Her heart was pounding, her head was beating, sweat began its toll at her neck and forehead.

She opened her eyes and saw that she was in...a gas station?

"Troy?" she murmured.

"Yeah?"

"Why are we in a gas station? And what happened? We crashed!"

"What? What the hell are you talking about...? Thats what you must have been doing. Y'know during your black out?" He looked her up and down. "Hey, can you stand?" He asked, setting her down to the ground.

"I can stand and what do you mean black out. I did not black out! You made us crash!"

"No... I didn't" He insisted. "Obviously, we are standing here, alive. You... you freaked me out back there. You just... started..." He threw his arms out "shaking... a-and your eyes! They rolled back into your head."

"Troy, what are _you_ talking about?" She looked at her surroundings only to find people in the restaurant area staring as well as the clerk behind the counter. " Look, forget it. I need a bathroom."

"Hey, you got a bathroom here?"

"Yeah go through there, and to your right."

Taylor noticed that the clerks eyes were crossed. "Okay...Thanks. Mr. Creepy." The last part she let slip out under her breath.

She walked through the aisles of the restaurant half, and noticed Mr. Creepy's two cousins. They too were staring like she was crazy. Their eyes, she noticed, followed her all the way to the bathroom door.

She closed the door and noticed the entire room looked as if it was filled with water and mud for 12 years. "Ugh God, gross."

She went in the stall, finished up, and then didn't dare to touch the toilet handle to flush. She lifted her foot and pressed the handle. Grabbing some tissue, she opened the stall door and used the tissue to turn on the faucet.

First brown, then yellow, and finally clear water, she washed her hands. Drying them on her pants, she headed tot he door. '

She tried to open the door but it didn't budge. Taylor twisted the knob pulling as tight as she could as the fear began to course through her body. Anxiety.

She started screaming and yelling and banging on the door for anyone. Anyone to come and get her out.

The fear now, made her gasp for gulps of air. Hyperventilating. "Help!! Someone! Help me!" Tears began to swell and sting in her eyes.

"PLEASE HELP ME I'M IN THE BATHROOM! ANYONE!" She was still pulling at the knob as much as she could, so much that it came off.

When the knob popped off, her hyperventilation completely stopped and she slowly put the knob back onto the door and turned.

It opened. As easily as when she had gotten into the bathroom.

She passed the two men, and went back to Troy who looked like he was engaging in an intriguing conversation with the clerk.

"I KNOW YOU HEARD ME! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU COME!" It all just came out in anger.

Troy and the clerk looked up at her with a what-are-you-talking-about look.

"What? What are you-"

"No. NO! NO NO NO! Don't you DARE play dumb! I was screaming at the top of my lungs for help! The stupid crummy door didnt open and you mean you couldn't hear me over what? The soft music?!" She was exasperated.

"No, I mean-"

"Oh my God, forget it. We're leaving." She stormed out the gas station without even waiting for a response, let alone a facial expression.

Troy thanked the cashier for the water he had bought and walked out after Taylor.

"Tay!" She gave him an angry evil glare. And he corrected himself "Taylor...look calm down, it's a gas station, it's probably been here forever, by the looks of it."

"Yeah whatever. Lets go."

He started the car and drove off down the highway.

XOXOXOXO

It had been about half an hour until they had arrived to Troy's destination. Route 606.

He smirked and abruptly turned the car onto what looked like a lonely one-car street that lie between two sides of forests.

Taylors eyes widened. "What the heck are you doing? Where are you going?! Go back to the highway."

"Look stop yelling, this is a shortcut."

She sat in silence and turned to her window.

He tried to flip on the radio, but the sound was too staticky to listen to.

"FM waves don't travel through hills and trees. Try AM"

He looked at her and then flipped to AM. AM did indeed work. He found a Christmas song playing. 'Rocking around the Christmas Tree'

They listened to that in silence, also, as a car was approaching them from the front coming in their direction.

"Troy, pull to the side, let him pass its not enough room for us both."

"I can't there is no side to pull over on, the snow is way too high for this car to drive onto." As they spoke, the car was coming up on them even faster.

The headlights of the other car became larger and larger before Troy could even blink once. And before they knew it, the truck had hit their car causing Troy to swerve off. He had turned the wheel so much, that the car spun around 3 times at a fast speed and crashed into the 10 feet of snow on the side of the road.

As this was happening, the pressure of the spins caused Troy to bash his head on the window.

And Taylor? She blacked out.

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**(A/N) So, okay i realize it was alittle boring. But hopefully it explains a little of the last chapter. And it shouldnt explain too much. (purposely) Anyway, hope you liked it! By the way, for those who were wondering, I prolonged the period of entering this chapter because i wanted to see how many reviews i would get. **


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